Familiar v0.8.4 released

Familiar v0.8.4 released
----------------------------

A new release of the Familiar distribution is available for download.

http://familiar.handhelds.org/releases/v0.8.4/

The highlights of this release are:

* initial support for the HP iPAQ h2200, hx4700, and h6300 series
  of devices
  * Opie 1.2.1
  * GPE 2.7
  * internationalization (i18n) functionality fully restored

Please note that a number of services on handhelds.org are being 
moved to new servers this weekend, so there may be intermittent 
problems from time to time. In particular, bugzilla.handhelds.org
is currently not available.

You may want to check the main handhelds.org website for updates
on the service relocations.


Support for new devices
-----------------------

In addition to the traditional platforms, v0.8.4 (like previous
release candidates) comes with initial support for the following 
devices:

. iPAQ h2200 series ("h2200")
. iPAQ hx4700 series ("ipaq-pxa270")
. iPAQ h6300 series ("h6300") (no Opie support)

Please consider support for these devices as a technology preview. 
h2200 and hx4700 are approaching full support although there may
be a few rough edges. h6300 support is still in an earlier stage
and may not be ready for daily use.

Installation instructions to be included in the Familiar
installation manual at [1] corresponding to these newly supported 
devices could unfortunately not be finished in time for the 
release.

Resolving a number of unexpected critical issues consumed the time 
that had been planned to be used for updating the documentation. We
hope to be able to rectify the situation shortly and appologize for
the delay.

If you have followed the corresponding ports projects (see the wiki
at [2]) and are familiar with the installation procedures, you are
encouraged to try this release. Otherwise you are recommended
to wait until the required documentation is finished.


Changes since v0.8.4-rc3:
-------------------------

* all targets:

  - default feed locations in /etc/ipkg/* fixed

  - bluetooth connections are re-established on resume again

  - another bug with the locale generation process was fixed.
    UTF8 support is now fully restored and tested with GPE applications.

  - upgrade path from 0.8.2 to 0.8.4 tested and fixed for standard
    installations of GPE and Opie

  - boot time further reduced

  - various bug fixes

* Linux 2.4 devices (h3600, h3900)

  - problems with driver association for numerous wifi cards
    that require orinoco drivers resolved

* h2200:

  - LAB bootloader now included in the install kits

* h2200, hx4700:

  - initial support for some of the hardware keys in Opie

* h6300:

  - Opie images are no longer provided since Opie lacks proper
    support for the h6300 and hasn't received enough testing


Upgrading from previous releases
--------------------------------

Upgrading to v0.8.4 from v0.8.2 is now largely tested again and should
work for relatively standard installations of GPE and Opie.

There may however still be certain rough edges since the upgrade path
had not received much attention for a long time and was only recently
fixed.

If you want to do an upgrade to v0.8.4, please make sure to follow
the instructions on the website carefully:

http://familiar.handhelds.org/releases/v0.8.4/


Reporting bugs
--------------

Thanks to previous bug reports we've been able to improve the overall
quality of what is now v0.8.4 a lot.

For general feedback please use the mailing list. For specific
issues please don't hesitate to file bugs in bugzilla:

http://bugzilla.handhelds.org/

Also, don't worry about getting the product/component wrong in bugzilla.
It can be adjusted afterwards.

A list of already known critical bugs for v0.8.4 is available at:

http://bugzilla.handhelds.org/showdependencytree.cgi?id=1602



Once again, I'd like to thank everyone who has helped make this release 
candidate happen, especially those who implemented or tested changes for
h2200, hx4700, or h6300 iPAQs!

Regards,

Rene

[1] http://familiar.handhelds.org/
[2] http://www.handhelds.org/moin/moin.cgi/SupportedHandheldS... 
[3] http://bugzilla.handhelds.org/showdependencytree.cgi?id=1...

-- 
Rene Wagner
rw at handhelds dot org
4F33 7FD7 93B3 166B BADA  D6F8 71A1 FEA8 58B4 36D0

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